PBS asks what makes 27 top chefs cook
With programming at the Food Network getting goofier by the minute, PBS has stepped up to satisfy viewers with new shows that may offer a little bit more nourishment. Last year, it produced Gourmet's "Diary of a Foodie" and now PBS is back with "Chef's Story," hosted by Dorothy Hamilton, founder and CEO of the French Culinary Institute in New York. Hamilton has brought together 27 top chefs, including Thomas Keller, owner of The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and others in that area, and Per Se in New York; French-born Daniel Boulud of Daniel, DB Bistro Moderne, and Cafe Boulud in New York; and Greek-American and Southerner Cat Cora, who is the only female Iron Chef and co-hosts "Melting Pot." A companion book, "Chef's Story: 27 Chefs Talk About What Got Them into the Kitchen," was edited by Hamilton and Patric Kuh, restaurant critic for Los Angeles Magazine.
Each half-hour show is taped at the FCI in front of students. The format is all fawn and giggle, sort of an Inside the Actors Studio for the food world, but it's still plenty of fun to see what makes these world-class chefs tick. -- JONATHAN LEVITT
Chef's Story premieres Sunday at 5 p.m. on Channel 44. 